40 Days of Encouragement
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of Encouragement
Day 22 | ABOVE ALL ELSE
40 Days of Encouragement
Day 22 | ABOVE ALL ELSE
ABOVE ALL ELSE
Matthew 6:33-34
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.” (NLT)
Our minds are incredible. We can think about yesterday, last year, tomorrow, outer space, the price of gas, or almost anything we put our minds to. And depending on what we choose to think about, we can experience fear, doubt, worry or faith, hope, and love. We can focus on God or on the things that make us fearful and doubting.
In the Sermon on the Mount from which our verses come today, Jesus realized that the people listening could also be fearful and doubting. He realized that even his followers could choose to focus their thoughts on troubles that caused them to worry. So, he gave a simple, practical formula that ANY of them could follow.
I guess that everyone reading (or listening to) this devotional today has experienced worry. I like this definition I once heard: "Worry is the negative use of your God-given imagination."
I'm sure, upon reflection, you will agree with that insightful definition. You see, each of us has a choice. Each day, we can choose to SEEK the Kingdom of God and live righteously as Jesus taught… or not. We can get so busy that our faith walk with the Lord becomes just a one-day-a-week thing on Sundays. (Of course, you are reading this devo, so you're above average!) But the point is… we need to focus on TODAY and our walk with Jesus.
How is your "righteous living"? Are you trying to live in a way that is pleasing to God
? That's a KEY to receiving ALL that you need from the Lord.
Prayer: LORD, I admit that there are many days where I'm not regularly thinking about how I'm walking and living. Point out to me today where I need to tweak things in my life. Amen.
Matthew 6:33-34
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.” (NLT)
Our minds are incredible. We can think about yesterday, last year, tomorrow, outer space, the price of gas, or almost anything we put our minds to. And depending on what we choose to think about, we can experience fear, doubt, worry or faith, hope, and love. We can focus on God or on the things that make us fearful and doubting.
In the Sermon on the Mount from which our verses come today, Jesus realized that the people listening could also be fearful and doubting. He realized that even his followers could choose to focus their thoughts on troubles that caused them to worry. So, he gave a simple, practical formula that ANY of them could follow.
I guess that everyone reading (or listening to) this devotional today has experienced worry. I like this definition I once heard: "Worry is the negative use of your God-given imagination."
I'm sure, upon reflection, you will agree with that insightful definition. You see, each of us has a choice. Each day, we can choose to SEEK the Kingdom of God and live righteously as Jesus taught… or not. We can get so busy that our faith walk with the Lord becomes just a one-day-a-week thing on Sundays. (Of course, you are reading this devo, so you're above average!) But the point is… we need to focus on TODAY and our walk with Jesus.
How is your "righteous living"? Are you trying to live in a way that is pleasing to God
? That's a KEY to receiving ALL that you need from the Lord.
Prayer: LORD, I admit that there are many days where I'm not regularly thinking about how I'm walking and living. Point out to me today where I need to tweak things in my life. Amen.